Ketrina Yim

We are a group of UC Berkeley educators and researchers looking for professionals with engineering, design, art, product management or business experience who would like to work with our entering tenth graders as they develop a college-readiness app for their peers. Involvement could be as little as two hours or up to a whole week of classes. The program model is a little different from most other volunteer opportunities. Instead of overt mentoring or teaching, we ask our industry volunteers to cowork with students for one or more sessions, adding their expertise and experience to the team's efforts. We believe this model makes it easier for professionals to quickly get involved with students, and the benefits to students not only includes learning new skills, but also developing a sense of membership in a professional culture. On their first day visitors will be asked to spend a few minutes describing their current work and career path, but otherwise, the focus will be on getting things done with the students. Background This summer, the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interast of Society (CITRIS) and the UC Berkeley Pre-College Academy (PCA) are partnering to pilot StartUP, a new STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) curriculum geared toward high school students. This summer’s class will be made up of underserved students entering the 10th grade. In this course, students will work as a technology start-up to improve a multimedia college-readiness app originally created by UC Berkeley students called, PIC Your Future. All facets of tech development will be covered, including how to develop a web application, create digital media and bring a product to market. The overall goal of the class is to develop a new version of the app that addresses the specific challenges aspiring college students encounter when preparing for college. Schedule The class will run 10:00 - 12:00, Mondays - Thursdays, June 15 - July 23, 2015. The location is Tollman Hall on the UC Berkeley campus, a short walk from the Downtown Berkeley BART. Tuesdays are scheduled specifically for industry collaborators to join in, but we welcome visitors on any class day — no matter the day, there will always be a chance to get involved with the students. Get Involved For more information, contact Dan Gillette at dangillette@citris-uc.org.